Gas-phase basicities of amines.

Relative gas-phase basicities of some aliphatic amines have been determined by ion cyclotron resonance spectroscopy. It is found that increasing alkyl substitution increases basicity if similar substituents are compared, that increases in alkyl group size also increase basicity, and that increasing degree of substitution lowers the N-H bond dissociation energy in ammonium ions. Possible origins of these defects are discussed.